The Chinese ambassador to Nigeria, Gu Xiaojie, on Tuesday put Nigeria-China trade volume at $40.9 billion.
Gu, who made the disclosure during a visit to the minister of science and technology, Ogbonnaya Onu, to further strengthen the bilateral bond between the two countries, said there was need to emphasise the extent to which the strengthening of the relationship was necessary to the mutual benefits of both countries.
“The strengthening will help expand mutual beneficial relationship and it will help us to look for a new way of corporation between china and Nigeria in celebrating 45th diplomatic ties between China and Nigeria.
“We are very glad with the development the current trade volume between Nigeria and china now is 40.9billion dollars and Nigeria still remains the biggest trading partner with china in Africa and Nigeria is the second biggest market of china’s export to Africa,” Gu said.
He said that the trade volume between the two countries against the commodity prices is down. “We are looking at cooperating with Nigeria to diversify her economy, we think that investment in agriculture, mining and infrastructure is our area, there is a very promising prospect for diversification for china and Nigeria in this area 45years is not short we have relation and strategic partnership.”
Responding, Onu commended the Chinese ambassador for the work they were doing, noting the need for China and Nigeria to cooperate and support each another for mutual benefits.
“I want to assure you that this ministry will honour all agreements. The relationship I suggested was government to government. We already have a good working relationship in so many areas, including space, and we want to build on the experience we have had in the past because we believe that China has done so well and the success of China can be traced to the importance they attach to science and technology,” Onu said.
